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OTTAWA: • Printed by the Citizen Printing and Publishing Company. 1884 A) ^ £ ^ :^ _, 187188 V, 'flVII^. NP J TO LADY MACDONALD THE FOREMOST WOMAN OF HER TIME IN CANADA THE FOLLOWING POEMS ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR. .a-XjXj I^I(3-I3:TS I^ESEI^"VEID. V PREFACE. T-EHD. The following poems will form portion of a volume soon to appear in rland. I publish them here because they are Canadian in inspiration aim, and though I am assured on all hands that criticism is in a low 4p|pktc amongst us, and that the market for native literary productions i8 4llfe.d in Canada, I think it would bo an insult to the Canadian people were I tia^ublish the followinK poems first in another country. ^- My object in writing the principal one— "Eos— A Prairie Dream"— was to strike a true and high note in Canadian politics and literature, a ll^te above and beyond anything to be found in or beneath the din of party Sfe. When I conceived the idea of treating the myth of Eos and mingling classical and the modern, my first question was— Can such a theme be tf(pated artistically ? Whether I have answered this in the affirmative it II be for the critics to judge. While seeking to make the poem a work of |, I aimed at indicating directly and allegorically what is our true position mada at this hour, and whence for whatever is discouraging in the l^sent situation redemption must come. It was a prince who more than a ieration ago said Parliamentary Government was on its trial. This is to-day by a man who wears the name and honours of the author of the It reform bill. No man who was not a base flatterer— and he only when knding on a hustings— would say the electors are using their power well. b dark as things are and gloomy as is the outlook, I have faith in free Ititutions, for these reasons :— I see the course of history has been one of Jgress and I believe " there is a hand that guides." The spark from a fctch has set a whole forest in a blaze, and a few minds kindled by the true firo woulil prove at onco beacons ami traiiHmittcrs. The first thinj? is t realize our true position ; the next to look to the future ; the third to draw | into our literary, social and political life the power of a noble inspiratitm. The second poem— "A Year"— is an attempt to give a continuoii- picture of the varying features of the Canadian year, with thesuggestion of a little romance. Every i)oem in the present little collection has been composed in Ottawa within the last few months— while delayed unwilling from my tar Prairie home— and I am conscious that in giving them thus hastily to tlie public I offend against Horace's rule, and render it a certainty that there must be many irregularities which the file would remove. But I dare believe that the poems are calculated to do good at the prcpont time and t > this conviction I am ready to sacrifice an aii ungucm scrupulosity. Ottawa, May 23rd, 1884. had b 'he nio Annoui And m( The sk} Of men Tithoni J|o char ^he het Of love first thinjf is to' third to driiw e inspiration. 3 a continuoii) lo" suggestion of n composed in e from my far hastily to the inty that there e. But I dare tint time and t osity. EOS— A PRAIRIK DREAM. had been tliinkin*; how the godile.ss of le morning red, at close of every niglit, innoiincing coming liglit of day to gods And mortals, drove her lambent car across The sky, and how she stooj/d and pluck'd those flowers Of men, — Orion, Cephalus, Tithonus — Tithonus, who became a wrinkled shade 4Bo changed from him whose strength and beauty pierced The heart of Eos in its tender dawn Of love. A sunny sky of blue arching plain filled with rich grasses, roses jnnk ind pale, the cry of insects, songs of biids, [id deep in meadows wild, and from the creek Jame thousand-voiced upon the sultry air ["he bull-frog's weary canticle. I slept ind dreamt the goddess bent above me there )n that wide prairie, and made my heart distend with dumb, bewildering, dreadful joy; fear mine the snowy forehead isled in gold, fear mine the eyes of blue, ineffable, sweet, .nd on my mouth the dewy rose of hers. ^n - i SIjo roHO juul harod lier milk-white iirm, and drew Mo nejir lier and tliere llush'd a Idiudiug light; Whirlwinds of flamo swept o'er the grass; the plain Was one vast fire from rim to rim; hnt on Wo went till distance made the hlaze look like The glow of western clonds at eve in snmmor, Just when the sun behind the purple hills Dipi, leaving yt How luminous tracts behind, Like fame or memory of good deeds; the heart Is touched, and pleasing sadness steals into The soul. The sea soon spread beneath, with isles Of vines and palms and citron groves; a rush Of waters green and white — and we were whelm'd In de})ths which n)ight engulf the navies of The world. I closed my eyes to die, when she 1 leached forth her lily hand with tapering fingers, 40 liosy-tipped, and touched me. At that touch Calm came. I breathed as in my native air, And she led on towards stately towers unique In architecture and in ornament. But when we neared the carven arch and door She turned and said: — " To-morrow you shall ride With me," and like a ghost she went, and blank And desolate, I knew not where to turn. Far down where never sailors' plummet reach'd, Nor over beam of piercing sunbeam stole, or dream of faint forgotten sound e'er stirred, Igrc Mig A c( But The The Lay Ligll 9 Nor ghost of eartlily odours smote the aense, WallM in with siloiit, fearful waves, its roof Of night and pallid waning stars, uphold By massy pillars (piarriod from the dark, The liome mysterious of the goddess stands; Its solemn sj)acious chamhers carpeted With dusk, and hung with swarthy tapestrios. Ebon the garniture; profuse on lounge And litter lay the fuia of animals Extinct a thousand centuries or more, Of which the rocks no hint to science gives. Along the halls and con-idors obscure, . In many a dim recess, rose stately shapes I Of blackness. Fed l)y Howers fresh-gather'd in The gardens of Perse[)lione, the air Wa: Anc 28(f This Ar; ^fWil :| Full • M Ant •fTha W. A c She The 'i^'it> WTh Up( ir >acl iver jas ique storms vn there- in 280 # -:i •i. . The heart's affections round the hind they till, Their mother then, no nursing substitute For one long leagues away. They have the force. They have the genius of a mighty race; Poets and thinkers, statesmen eloquent; Their peasants gentle, virtuous folk; but lost Are maviy winning graces of the Gaul At home. Old wine is pent in bottles new; You see the same thing farther west in those Blind egotists who damn in others what They do themselves —the merest slaves of cant, Of what has been — incapable of deeds Strong-limbed and bold, such as are born of thought And will. But there shall come a race in which This Gallic stream will play a noble part, A race which, gathering strength from diverse founts,^ Will — a majestic river — onward flow Full-volumn'd, vast, its guide its proper bent. And take its character and hues from all That makes the present great — rolling along A crowded avenue of wealth and power." She shook the reins which gleam'd like lightning bands, The horses toss'd their meteor heads, the clouds Flew round their feet in darting flames, the mist Rose up illuminated round our wake. Which blazed a diamond track for many a league. Upon my brow the wind was cold; I heard 18 li I'l l^iie rusli of wheels so quick each look'd a fire Of dazzling briglitness; heli by power divine 1 held my [thice. But now she drew the reins Tight, and the horses stopi)ed. I heard the singing Of tributary streams, and looking down Baw where the river — the Ottawa — cut out 300 Of the eldest ribs of earth a theatre vast. Like threads of silver run from silver coin To coin, it wound between the hills, and spread At intervals in wide and beauteous lakes. Right in the midst a hill fit throne for rule. And crowning this were stately structures, towers And domes and gothic arches quaint, with rich Device of ornament. A shade of grave Ketlection passed across her face but did ^ot mar the outlines of immortal j'outh Kor dim its hues. Her eyes looked far away As though all future time was glass'd within Their depths: so look'd the Cumrean Sibyl's, Her first convulsions o'er, when she foretold ^neas all the vears held in their womb For his descendants. " These," she said, " were built By one of large conceptions, forecast sage, Imperial dreams, in whom Ulyssean wiles Were wedded with a grasp for state afiairs rf }0'"^hich n And pati $Vhose m ||5Vhole ra ^e had t Jfeis task >road, { [is path; ^urblind, To choose le roar < le want ^hen Ma Pf niost,- lut he no lut like 8 I oh as ai She :^- ilfer tones Jl^fore, wj J|iid in m ^ joy anc ■ J! Jis for son W rapturi ^0 rosy either 10 Which mates him with tliose n)ighty minds whose care And patient wisdom nations found; great souls, "Whose monuments are continents, from whom Whole races drink their insi)iration. He had to work with crude materials gross. His task to weld in one widescatter'd states. "Abroad, at home, fat ignorance beset His path; the smug sagacity of men ^urblind, — the chosen voice of those ill fit Po choose who shall declare what law must be — le roar of calumny, faction's furious feuds, le want of heart, of faith, proper to times ''hen Mammon-worship is the shameless cult ^f most, — with these and more he had to fight, jut he nor blench'd nor faltered one small hour, |ut like a law bore on, borne up by hopes ||uch as are parents of immortal things." She ceased. The sense's memory, tremulous with [er tones, like some rare music never heard jfore, with happy pain my heart made faint, J|nd in my eyes the waves well'd up from founts f joy and grief; the chords of mourning thrill'd for some loss divine, while all the springs rapture moved; meanwhile thi'o' tears I mark'd Bbo rosy bulge of delicate ciouds which sle^it f]^ either side. She said: " Lo! beautiful lives 20 Dissolved in mist and I'ocked asleep by airs Imprtli)al)le as they." But up there camo The phantom roar of waters. Bending o'er The car whicli now was near the earth, I saw Where over rocks wihl torrents gujislied and foam'd, And I was noting how tlie mass of white And furious billows, catching rays of dawn, Began to show like a great rose in vase Of silver, fringed witli jasmin flowers, when she Continued: — " Yes, there is the seat of a Young people destin'd to be great and free, 360 Tho' oft blind ignorance and greed these halls Invade, and in fair Freedom's very fane Swine guttle. Ah! these eyes have seen what man Can do. Full many a morning have I watch'd The envious crowd in Athens spit out hate Of noble Pericles, the balanc'd man. Wise with all wisdom, beautiful with love Of every art, who made Athena's home Worthy of her — that light for evermore To man; for sink he ne'er so low, the hog In him may overgrow the soul, and lust And drunkenness drive far the graceful forms Who wait on the pure life, still must he rise Again, redeemed, drawn by the power of Athens — Her beauty fairer than the lover dreams L * 21 man ms — Of bor lie loves — the greatness of the mind Calm, self-contained, the nnisic struck by soids For goodneSiH passionate from nature's strinj^s, he scorn of death, tlie love of noble deeds — 11 this will rest on mankind like a spell, .nd spite of filth and crime, disease and death, ause them to move towards excellence. Ah! true, he course is slow. The freshening morning comes pon the heels of night and gives each day new birth to the world; the years steal by nd leave behind their legacies of fact; he generations rise and fall like waves, nt ere they die the store of knowledge swell; he centuries bearing names and deeds of note, nd petty pangs and lyric joys, and loves 'oo weighty for frail lives — the centuries flee; thousand years are gone like yesterday; Id empires sink into decrepitude; jNew kingdoms rise; even races pass away; ^New types appear; new forms of civic life — iJBut man is still the same blind fool, the same ^^ase groveller, still will he hug his chains, ;;|And still pursue what leads to chains and death. ^Down the ruining precipices of time ■^fT^'rant and tyrannies are hurled, and man Q^yA. moment rises free and stands erect; ip'he future opens like a dawn of spring; It seems as if afar in depths of space sS" / 22 The stars were lr.\ri)ing cliorftl sym[)lionie8 In 8yni[)athy witli woilils born again, Anil a new era stood upon tlie verge Of fact. Alas! Vile use has bred the slave's Habit. The horse has thrown his rider but Runs wild, bewilder'd, till another's in The saddle and ho feels a master's touch; The late wash'd sow grows sad with cleanliness, But as the pig imagination glows With dreams of wallowing near, she grunts with joy. Ivuled by Pisistiatus men conhl not be Worse slaves than they are there in that voung land In this new world. They have academies; And from a thousand taoernacles gleams The cross, the symbol sweet of lore more deep Than Greek philosophy, though it requires Athenian lamps to bring its light out clear; 420 They have the garner'd lore of ages old And new, but cannot think — the serfs of bold And blatant calumny, whose l)reath of life Is rank vituperation of the best And wisest men. That form of civic life Which liberty and government by the sago Secures, nowhere is seen. Democracy , Puts chattering apes in seats of power, and howls Hosannas praising not humility Divine an ass bestriding, but the ass Himself, out-braying hideous egotisms, ♦•»<■ llic 'IMie Of: Fro A si VVil Wil Wit But MO Wei !■ Of ) Bes( ^' Of i ■; Froi ' ■ Wit ;This * Thai ,' He J'.And |And 23 laud lliclily capai'isoii'tl and capering o'er The prostrate crowd, while those who live, the salt Of human things, who keep society From mortifying, hated are and pushM Aside; low cunning more and more is crown'tl. Without some practice, who can [jlough a field ? Without instruction, wlio could make a watch 1 Without much study, wlio can nuistiu* art? But men will act as if the veriest boor MO Were fit for government, while government |; Of all things man can do is hardest, most # Beset with problems such as only minds •■' Of finest fibre, trained and contident \ From knowledge and the sense of power can co[)e With. Give to poor small brains the driving of 'This chariot, Phaethon's fate awaits him, worse Than Phaethon's fate, perhaps, the people whom */ He tries to rule. But still things onward move; -|And though the curve that's near will seem depraved, ^And is, in time's large circles progress lives; 't And 'tis permitted genarous hopes to keep, tThat in a far off day the dull will honour 4 ^' Worth with other meed than hate. The heart '^"Of mediocrity will sweetened be 4 By sweet benevolences born of time ^And sad experience. Benefactors df :^ Their race will then not have to wait till death their reward; but many a lapsing year !JF' 24 ■;•■*!■ I ( li ni 1 1 Must pass, before the harp from which the Fates 460 "Will strike this music has been made, and oh! How many thousand times my burning wheels Will lighten round this globe before I ci;n Announce that happy morn; tlie day will still Steal into narrow rooms where genius pines In want, or breaVs his heai't against the odds Of the blind, batlUng, brutish multitude. More than a century ago T look'd Into the room of Chatterton and saw The boy of genius dead by hie own hand. The empty vial near. I'v^o peer'd between The bars which held Cervantes in; obscure And poor and blind great Milton felt my presence; And often have I seen the faithful black Attendant of poor Camoens return From begging all the nigiit for food to feed His master destin'd soon to die a pau[)er In an almshouse. Bat why pursue a theme Too trite and sad *? So sjid if gods with grief For human things could suffer, tears of mine 480 Would flow, so that the sun which follows hard Upon our track could not dry up the ground This summer day. Hight under where we stand The savage ruled and on that very hill His councils held, councils which in the mind Of Jove rank just as high as those which now A race self-styled superior hold, alone In ci Or h They Xike Hun Aroi Hav( A Ci And Who . Afe •Of o XJnys 00 Talk Awa And Wit Of Tol The Alo Are The At The :Ant ~v;iL00 25 In cunning great. They do not feed on dogs Or human flesh, but moral cannibals They are. They kill with venomous lies and then Xike ghouls they bntten on the corpse, and scenes Humiliating as an Indian dance Around a white doa; swimming in its broth, Have been enacted in that chamber where A Cicero should tind himself at home, And Burke's deep wisdom be a common thing. Who worships truth, who honours liberty? . A few. Too few. The mass are lost in love Of gain, in low desires, conceptions all Unworthy of the task they should essay. 00 Talk statesmanship to them, you cast your pearls Away; but rave and slaver out abuse And they will crunch the hardest epithets. With joy the garbage bolt, and gulp the swill Of reeking rhetoric." Her cheek here seem'd To burn as with a touch of angry red. The reins she shook whicli flashed like lightning bands Along the horses* backs. Like lire when winds Are strong, whole streets ablaze, roofs crashing in. The sky red-hot, the roar as of mad seas At war, the firemen's toil in vain — like fire Thoy forward spj'ang, and, in a twinkling, towers '^nd blocks of masonry majestical .^Looked like a doubtful edifice of dreams, V "ftf' Mi i if" i 26 Dim, air-built castles of forgotten years; The cataract a second glanc'd — a gleam Of white 'gainst rainbow dust; the lakes swept by Reflecting now the forms of fiery steeds And now a I'osy shadow, and again 520 The gem-like radiance of our burnish'd trail. At last the prairies wide with tint of flower As delicate as her own cheek. She smiled And said: " I play the gadding gossip for Your sake to-day — see where the iron horse Pants, pufls out smoke and snorts and cries and bears; Long trains thro' what was wilderness a year Ago; flinnging his smoke aloft he makes A passing cloud. Upon these plains immense Where here and there the signs of man at work Are seen, it is but yesterday the red Man, the poor savage chased the buffalo. I've seen him in his prime and his decay; But save the wild ox and his pursuers This land has been a solitude since it Was heaved up from the sea. For centuries 1 — Oh! yes, for thousands, those bright lakes have shone Unmark'd; the wild ducks lived upon their breasts Nor feared the fowler's dart; the roses bloomed; 540 The gopher dug his hole and stood erect, And ran and lived his lonely graceful life. And playe4 among the grasses and the flowers; :he The At t| The But Broi The Sasli Tne Typ< On ( Shoi And Has Doi Cora . T] 60 And Of 1 Sot Ha\ Wh Anc Gloi Anc Of( GiU Of( I . - )fcby 1(1 bears; shone asts 27 *the sliore-lark sang; the prairie hen and plover Their broods unharmed reared; the antelope At times a prize to the Indian's arrow fell; The wolf at all hours prowled in search of prey; jput not a trace of man, save when the chase Brought savage hunters from the river's marge, The beautiful wooded vales of the Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan, and streams subsidiary. ?xie Indian's doom should touch your heart. I've seen Types disappear before. But kindnesses On dj'ing races, as on dying men Should wait, and Canada may well be proud, And England, too, of that just spirit which Has ruled her councils; these are things the gods Do not forget. But lo! the sun full-orbed Comes on apace. We must not further pause." The reins she shook which flash'd like lightning bands, 60 And forward rushed those coursers wild, and wheels Of fire, and soon the snowy peaks of bills So high, our horse's feet might well Have touch'd the topmost, were empurpled. Cones Which rose at frequent intervals grew pink, And reJ, while clefts and chasms fathom-deep, Gloomed dark and dreadful. The eagle was awake And vvheel'd with sail-broad pinions wide in search Of quarry; back and wings to us seem'd like Gilt bronze of antique armour worn by knights Of old, on which flames out the light of fire 1 ll! ,'i 3 ■i J 28 tn some baronial hall hung round Avith casqvies, And breast-plates, shields, and shirts of mail and spears Transverse; the founder of the house he glowers Above the hearth liuge as Cathedral door. The eaojle's shadow on the white peak's side Was as the shade of some long-pointed cloud When winds are veei'ing. Past tlie Fraser — past Those lucid streams whose sands are gold, and now 580 Mirroring many a shape — outlines too Mr For gross embodiment in flesh — young forms Of tender beauty, robed in hues of heaven, Attendant on that glory-scattering car, The rippleless ocean lay beneath uy, bright; No wrinkle on its vast and i)lacid brow; No cloud in view, and as we flew along Deep voices from aroiind the car poured forth Sweet strains which o'er the ocean rolled and died In frozen whispers mid the polar seas. The ocean was now left behind — a breadth Of light. A score of dusky nations old We pass, then [)lunge beneath the engulphing waves. A rush of waters green and white — again I closed my eyes to die, when she reach'd forth Her hand with ta[)ering fingers rosy-tipped And touched me. Then once more myself, I saw Her steeds, unbreath'd, di*aw uj), and how there flashed A sudden light o'er carven ai'ch and door, An 00 An An| Lil An An A An An Ai Th( ,10 Ea- es, and spears 3rs t I now 29 lRcI sable towers and pillars glimmering fair; 00 And colonnades stretcli'd darkling far away; And in the distance vistas dim were seen, Ijike walks enchanted made for fairy feet; ^nd there stood Twilight lading fast away. 'And like a fantasy he went, and Eos, A form of light, moved into shadowy halls, And all the busy upper world was day. And T awoke and turned my steps to wliere A mile away on the monotonous plain The hammers rang on shingle roofs, and grew ,]^(^ Each hour the " city " of a few weeks old. died ^•;^'v ^^%^ waves. aw L'e flushed J \^ !l / 30 A YEAR. The deptlis of infinite shade, Tke soft green dusk of the glade, With liery fingers the frost had fret, And dyed a myriad hue, Making of forests temples of golden aisles; The swooning rose forgot to bloom; In fragrant graves slept violets blue; And earlier shook her locks of jet Night, with her subtle shadowy wiles, Night, with her starry gloom, — Before like suns which could not set, Your eyes shone clear on mine, Flushing the heart with feelings high, * Touching all life as thrills the sky, "When over cloudy pavements thunders rumble and roll: Then flamed the faltering blood like wine, And overflowed the soul. Through wintry weeks, the sun above Oceaned in blue, the frost below; Through blustry hours, when fiercely drove Winds razor-armed the drifting snow, And peeled the face and pinched the ear. And hurled the avalanche of fear From roof-tops on the mufHered crowd; The air one blinding cloud; — Through many a brisk and bracing day. 31 The sky wide summer as in June, The joyous sleigh bells ringing tune More blithe than aught musicians play; The pure snow gleaming white; Men's eyes fulfilled of finer light, Of finer tints the womexi's hair; Their cheeks aglow, and full and ^)iuk; The skater? sweeping through the rink, Like swallows through the air: We talked, and walked, and laughed and dreamed, And now snow-wreaths, auroral rays, The winter moon, day's blinding blaze. The merry bells, the skaters' gruce Recall thy laugh, recall thy face As dazzling as it earliest l)eamed! Love stirred in the frozen branches, And straight the world was crown'd with green, And as a shipwright his trim craft launches. Each bud put forth in a night its might, And the trees stood proud in summer sheen, Their foliage dense, a grateful screen 'Gainst the bold, bright heat and the full, fierce light. Like cathedral windows the gardens glowed, Mirrors of light the broad lakes gleamed, His cunning in song the robin showed. And the shore-lark swung on a branch and dreamed; And boats were gliding, lover-laden t |il!l 32 Over lakes and streams tliafc will y:t be known. The boy in flannel, tlu^ blooming maiden In mnslin white with a ribbon zone. The chestnuts fell. From their dull green sheaths With satin-white linings, the nuts burst free; And as sun-down came, bright hazy wreaths The spirit of eve hang from tree to tree. The weeks rolled on, the lush green fields Became billowy breadths of golden grain, And all roots and fruits the kind earth yiekis Were piled on the labouring wain. — But you were by the cliff-barred white-crested sen. And I where the delicate pink of the prairie vov Amid rich coarse grasses hides, Where the sunset's" a boisterous pageantry. And the mornings the tendcrest tints disclose, Where far from the shade and shelter of wooil, The prairie hen rears her speckled brood. And the prairie wolf abides. And lonely memory searching through Found no such stars in the orbed past, As the glad ilrst greeting 'twixt me and you, And the sad, mad meeting which was our last, 33 :t be known, don e. yveen sheutlis burst free; vreaths 3 tree, iekls grain, :h yields te-crested sea, he prairie rose antry, nts disclose, ter of wood, brood, h )ast, ind you, i^as our last. IN MEMORY OF A DINNER. In other days round classic boards, I met ■ With those whose young brows bore tlie laurel, pure From stain. Talking of art and strong to endure All things, we felt youth's star could never set. The wine I spurn now like an anchoret, But oft from out the past I fain would lure The joyous wit, the impromptu portraiture, jThe high philosophies which haunt me yet. resh as those you gave us for a whet, Apicius sent cool bivalves to his friend In Parthia. Many millions would he spend On feasts colossal; but I'd make a bet -Than yours a choicer did he never get, And highe?' our young wits did ne'er ascend. Ottawa, March 9th, 1884. '"''ii. 34 FEIENDSHIP. m^. 8vveet is tho moon above old Englisli trees, And sweet her light on dewy velvet lawns, And sweet her pallid shade in ])iirple dawns, And |)assing sweet her sheen on languid seas. O'er sleeping kine on broad-extending leas Dispersed o'er the darkling green like |)awns, Her light is sweet, and sweet when deep down yawns The abyss, or whitens far wide prairies. So iViendshi}) whei'eso'er we go is sweet; Whate'e»" of lo.ss or triumph we may sh;ire; Whatever we endure or do or dare; Nor can fate all be djirk, if round our feet Its rays are shed; however 'mei'sed in care Beauty and Peace amid life's shadows m(M>t. 35 TO " BAY MI." f US. own ya\vii.« Lacking a good three years of seven, Sunny haired boy with eyes of lieaven, With everlasting rii)i)le of laughter; As yet no touch of worldly leaven In thy frank soul. Oh! how you capture All hearts, and drown in present joy The cares which come from before and after. Sunny haired, blue-eyed, happy boy! Kunning, jumping, never at rest. Now using one toy, now abusing another, Caning your dearest friends in jest, Ruling father and sister and mollier. And bowing all wills to your high behest — I could watch your movements all day long; Whether you laugh or whether you cry, Like a bird or a rill you enchain the eye. And you fill the heart like a burst of song. As [)ageants held in ruined towers Will make tlie sad place glad once more. As laughing waves on wreck-strewn shore, As summer sunshine after showers, You brighten u[) the weary heart, J 36 And chanii with sweet unconscious wiles, So tliat the tears which still will start, Before they fall arc lost in smiles, And you are folded to my breast. And patted and caressed; My hand runs through your golden hair, The world is seen in hues of love, There's not a cloud in heaven above, And all the earth is fair! Scorn and hate — each evil passion flies Before the beauty of your sinless eyes. You — best of preachers I have seen! You steal into the heart, bid flow The dried up streams of long ago, The farthest shores of memory glow With fragrant flowers and tempering green, So thit this truth I more discei , If moral beauty we would wed, We must, as the Great Master said, Of little children learn. Ottawa, April 17th, 1884. ^^^^ wileH, 11% hair, w I gi'eeii, d,